Chapter 7 – A Mad Dog’s Pretense

That day, when Levisia finally came face to face with Pel, she couldn’t say anything. The reason was simple: when Pel ran into her, he apologized before she could utter a word. Well, there was nothing more to say when one admitted their fault. She simply gave him the cliche response of ‘don’t do it again’.

And since that day, one thing has changed.

“Are you there, sister?” Siaphyl peeked his head through the crack of the door and smiled.

Yes, the change brought in her little corner is the presence of a visitor. But of all people, the visitor is Siaphyl Bear Kraiden – the one she needed to avoid the most. Without showing her disdain, she greeted him with a nod. “You’re reading today as well.”

Siaphyl has even come to visit her bed chambers. The reason was rather plain: she never left my bed chambers.

“And you’re always in bed.”

“Please understand. My recovery is slow. There’s not much to be done.”

And she would get in trouble with Pel if she left. He becomes so upset whenever she steps out of her bed. In spite of the confirmation from the doctor that she was fully recovered, he was being overly protective. 

‘I suppose it’s because I’ve never been this sick before.’ Her thoughts began to wander to Pel, who must be somewhere in the palace right now. Just then, she felt a pair of blank eyes staring at me. When she stared back in query, Siaphyl seemed to snap back and smiled, “Do you know what?”

“What, your highness?”

“You smell like a crisp forest, sister.”

Forest? She looked down at her body and took a sniff, but smelled nothing. Of course, one can’t smell oneself, but she didn’t think she smelled like a forest as he said. “Could it be because of this flower pot?” She pointed at the flower pot next to her bed that Pel brought. Siaphyl laughed as though he heard a joke.

“No. It’s coming from you, Sister.”

“That couldn’t be…” She hadn’t set foot in any forest, and her perfume didn’t smell like one either.

“Whenever I’m with you, I feel like I’m next to the Fairy Tree because of your scent.”

‘Fairy tree, eh?’ Levisia had only seen it a few times from far away. The Fairy Forest is the most guarded among the royal forests and very difficult to get into to begin with, not to mention seeing the Fairy Tree, the largest tree in the forest. ‘Does he want to see the Fairy tree?’ They say those who are blessed by the Fairy King become naturally drawn to the Fairy Tree. She had felt it as well and went to see it from a distance. If Siaphyl feels that way as well, he could just go and see it.

Levisia decided to tell him her thoughts. “If you desire to see the Fairy Tree, can’t you just go and see it?”

Siaphyl once again just laughed, “I always want to see the tree, but that’s not it. I can easily go and see it whenever I want to.”

Indeed, the real Kraiden privilege shows. Just as she was thinking this, Siaphyl’s eyes changed.

“It’s just to say that I like you and I feel at ease whenever I am with you. That’s all you need to know for now.”

‘For now?’ These were not the only words he spoke that aroused her curiosity.

“How is it that when you smell so nice, this place reeks of something rotten?”

“It reeks?” Levisia raised her eyebrow. Her place may be nearly abandoned, but it didn’t reek. Pel and Sheila tirelessly took care of the place.

“You didn’t know? There’s an unpleasant fishy smell.”

How could it be possible when there wasn’t even a little pond here? Levisia began to doubt his sense of smell. “Your Highness must be very sensitive to smell.” From her smelling like a forest and her place smelling fishy- it was all about smell.

“Am I? I’m not so sure, sister.”

But it scares her the most when Siaphyl goes from shrewd to acting naive. ‘I just can’t read his thoughts.’ Why was Siaphyl hanging out with someone as insignificant as her? This strange occurence wasn’t mentioned in the book.

 [Siaphyl Bear Kraiden, the last of the Kraidens who mass murdered his nameless siblings.]

In the book he was called the mad dog. The thought that this boy, who was adored by all, would one day take her life always gave her chills. ‘Should I butter up to him to save myself since things are going this way?’ But it wasn’t worth throwing her pride away… No, not that. It was useless to even try. Even those who loved and adored Siaphyl as their own brother died at the end of the book. He may appear to accept everyone’s adoration with pleasure, but secretly he may be laughing at them in ridicule.

She flipped the pages of her book as she erased the fuss in her mind.

“What are you reading today, sister?”

She stared at the fluttering pages for a while. Sometimes, when Siaphyl innocently asks a question like that, she becomes at a loss for words. They make her wonder whether she had become so caught up with the book that she might be misjudging people.